Chloe & Zack - Who would have thought?
by BadDancingWolvesRecreation
Summary: It's been almost 5 years since Chloe Lukasiak and Zackery Torres have seen each other. Chloe is still at ALDC and Zack has moved on from CADC. Somehow, a little trip throws them together. What happens next? Rivalry. Friendship. Dance. Jealousy. Secrets. Fun. Hurt. Comfort. Love.
1. Chapter 1 - Secret Holiday Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dance Moms (It was created by Collins Avenue Productions and picked up by Lifetime) or Dance Academy (created by Joanna Werner and Samantha Strauss). All characters belong to them, as well of some of the details that you already recognize. I do not own Hawaii (Obviously the island is owned by the state of Hawaii and the US government, etc.)**

**Pairing: Chloe and Zack (I'm not sure if they'll end up together though ;) I'm definitely open to your suggestions), I might put in some other pairings as well.**

**Rating: Teen -for safety (It's more K at the start, I'm not sure about later though)**

**Author's Note: Set during the summer before Chloe's senior year at high school. Chloe is 17 and Zack is 19. This is the first fanfic I have ever written, so please go easy on me :p **

**I've never been to Hawaii, so I doubt this is an accurate representation of it. I put in a 'boardwalk' and then found out they don't have many boardwalks in Hawaii, so I changed it to 'walkway'. So if you're having trouble imagining it:****there's the beach and then a walkway with shops on it. **

**Also, I started writing this before season 4 episode 8, so I initially wrote it with Paige still at ALDC. Then the drama with Kelly and Abby happened and it was confirmed that Paige and Brooke were no longer in ALDC, so I did some re-writing so that Paige was not in ALDC, but was still best friends with Chloe.**

Secret Holiday Part 1

Chloe Lukasiak sits in the small row boat quietly, looking out at the beautiful landscape around her. Hawaii has got to be one of the most beautiful places she has ever seen, despite the fact that she had seen a lot of places with the dance company. The dance company, Chloe remembers guiltily. She should be back home training, not here on holiday. She was now in Abby Lee's senior dance group and the training had become even more intense. She hadn't told Abby that she was going on holiday before she went. She wanted to, but her mom had insisted that she tell Miss Abby that she was going on a compulsory school study trip, because Miss Abby would not let her go on anything else. One of these days, Chloe thinks to herself, she won't put up with everyone pushing her around.  
"Chloe," a voice breaks her out of her thoughts. She looks up to see her friend, Brooke Hyland, looking closely at her from the other end of the boat. "You're worrying again. Stop worrying. That's all you've done since we got here last night, try to loosen up a bit." Brooke says as if she can read Chloe's mind. "You can deal with Miss Abby when you get back. But for now, you might as well enjoy yourself, you're already here." Chloe looks towards the shore and can just vaguely see a group of beginner surfers taking lessons on the beach. Paige is among them with a few of Brooke's friends, fake paddling on the sand and jumping up on the board. Paige was still competing in dance, but not with ALDC after the incident occurring between Abby and Kelly.

"Why didn't Paige book a lesson on the actual water? She's a bit too advanced for those beginner lessons, she already has good balance from dance, so she'd probably pick it up very quickly." Chloe says, turning to face Brooke again.

"Although Wendy isn't as strict as Abby, she'll still kill Paige if she hurts herself or breaks something because she is surfing." Wendy was Paige's dance coach at her studio and had been coaching Paige since she left ALDC. "Paige still isn't freaking out like you are though." Brooke replies.

"It's just hard for me not to worry, two weeks is a long time to be away from dance." Chloe replies. "And Miss Abby..."  
"... I know, Chlobird, I've been there. But sometimes you have to let yourself have a little fun."  
Chloe smiled at Brooke's advice, which had probably been influenced by Kelly's attitude about dance/life balance.

Brooke had quit dancing professionally and was pursuing her music career, which was doing really well. She had a few songs on the top of the iTunes chart and she had really expanded her style, she wasn't just singing upbeat pop songs anymore. She still danced for herself and to stay fit, but competing just wasn't for her anymore.

Chloe, Maddie and Nia were all in the senior group at ALDC now and Kendall was the leader of the junior group with Mackenzie. Chloe fell somewhere between Maddie and the other dancers on the dedication scale. She just found it harder, because she still went to a regular school every day (which Abby frowned upon) because she still wanted to keep her life as normal as possible. She still hung out with Paige every day at school (which Abby also frowned upon) and they had remained best friends. Despite Miss Abby calling her lazy and insisting that she didn't have the passion that Maddie did, Chloe still put a lot of her spare time into dance. Until this trip.

Brooke had just turned 21, which made her legally an adult. She had wanted to go on holiday with a few college friends and had offered to bring Paige and her "twinnie", as they liked to call Chloe, along with them. They also invited Maddie, Nia and Kendall but Jill had said that Kendall was too young to go on holiday under the guidance of a 21 year old and Nia hadn't wanted to irritate her RND ('Chronic Pain') with the stress of breaking Miss Abby's rules. Maddie had declined, because she couldn't take time away from dancing, but she promised not to tell Abby where they were and to keep them posted on what was happening back at home. Christi and Kelly trusted Brooke enough to supervise the girls and make sure they didn't 'get themselves into any trouble'. Paige's doctor had also said it was a good idea, and that it might help Paige relax, because she was still having the occasional panic attack despite leaving ALDC and her dance coach had agreed to let her go. Abby would never understand though, so Chloe just couldn't tell her or tell anyone that she was going on holiday. She understood that Abby just wanted the best for her and for all of the girls to challenge themselves like Maddie, but this would be her first proper holiday since she started dancing and they were really excited.

Chloe's phone beeps from inside her pocket and she stops rowing for a moment to read the text message.  
'Maddie: I hope you guys arrived safely and are having fun. Try to bring a lei back for me, xoxo'  
Chloe smiles. Despite the competition between the girls in the company, they were all close like sisters. Chloe quickly texts back 'We arrived safely and just started looking around this morning. Will send you pics soon and will definitely get you that lei! xoxo'. She pops her phone back in her pocket and her stomach rumbles, indicating that it's probably time for her and Brooke to head back to shore.

* * *

Chloe and Paige met up at a little cafe near the beach for lunch, whilst Brooke went shopping with her college friends.  
They sit outside the front of the cafe, deep in conversation.  
"I'm loving this holiday. The beach is amazing and I walked past a boutique on the way here with the cutest dresses, we have to go in later," Paige tells Chloe as she sips her fruit tea lemonade. "Plus I haven't worried about dance and winning and homework all day."  
"I wish I could say the same about dance, but it's been bugging me since we got here. " Chloe complains, poking at her ice cream. "And I miss mom and Clara."  
"It might take some time," Paige suggests. "Maybe you just need a distraction or..."  
Chloe doesn't hear the rest because she's distracted by a guy jogging down the beach, in the opposite direction from where they are. The guy is tall, with tan skin and dark brown spiky hair. He's very toned and fit looking. Although his back is to her and she can't see his face, he looks extremely familiar...  
A finger snaps in front of her face. "Earth to Chloe!" Paige says. "What were you looking at?"  
"There was this guy...with a dancer's body."  
"Oh God, you're hallucinating about dance now? Maybe YOU should be the one that has to go see a doctor from now on." Paige teases.  
"Ha-ha, very funny. I thought I saw...never mind, that's impossible. Let's go see that boutique you liked." Chloe says, trying to convince herself that she saw wrong.  
He's not even in Hawaii, he moved back to Phoenix.

* * *

They are now in the boutique and Paige is shoving things at Chloe to try on. "You would look so amazing in that, it's really your style!" she babbles excitedly.  
"What about you?" Chloe asks, slightly confused as to why Paige hasn't picked any clothes for herself yet.  
"We'll do you first, and then do me. I want you to pick a nice dress...because we're kind of going to a party tonight...with College kids."  
"What?" Chloe exclaims.  
"I met this really nice group of local college kids while I was on the beach today and they invited us to a bonfire party on the beach tonight. They invited Brooke's friends as well, so we're all going."  
"But Paige..." Chloe starts to say.  
"We don't have to drink or do anything we don't want to; we can just go and see what it's like! If you don't like it, we'll go back to the hotel. Now try on this little black dress."  
"Okay, fine." Chloe sighs.  
When she comes out of the dressing room to show Paige the dress, Paige squeals happily. "You look so gorgeous; you HAVE to wear this dress tonight. Now that you're settled, I can go pick a dress for myself too."  
Chloe looks in the mirror and decides that a little fun couldn't hurt.

* * *

Zack Torres completes his jog up and down the beach and decides to have a cool-down jog on the walkway next to the beach before having to go back to his Uncle's house to change for the party tonight. He's doing his freshman year at College now, as well as continuing competitive dance with his old company in Phoenix (Cathy and the Candy Apples didn't have a senior group). Zack had decided he wanted to become a dance teacher and he was doing the course he needed in College for it, but his college had suggested that he try exchange for a month to Hawaii, where they had a campus with a really great dance teacher. He had been here for two weeks already, staying with his uncle that happened to live here. He was really enjoying his time so far.  
As he was passing what looked like a girl's clothing shop, something caught his eye in the window. There was a girl facing away from him, sitting outside a dressing room. What caught his eye was her hair. It was long and blonde. A blonde so light that he'd only seen it on one other girl before...but it couldn't be her. Now you're just imagining things, he thinks to himself, there's no way SHE would take time off and come to Hawaii.

* * *

The girls are at their hotel getting dressed and putting makeup on.  
It's 7pm and the bonfire party is about to start.  
Chloe sighs in frustration. "I can't get this eye liner right. I wish Mackenzie was here."  
"Why, what's wrong with it? It looks good!" Paige reassures.  
"I think it's too dark."  
"No it's not! It makes your eyes look...smoky." Paige argues.  
"I guess." Chloe agrees reluctantly. "Now we have to pick shoes to wear."  
Paige grins evilly and pulls out two really tall pairs of stilettos from her suitcase.  
"No. Oh no. No, no, no!" Chloe protests. "It's on the beach; we don't want to sink into the sand. We don't need these, we're tall enough already!"  
"Oh come on, we can take them off when we get to the beach. But can't we just wear them down the walkway in front of the beach?"  
"It says strictly in both of our contracts 'Students must not wear high heels'. If we fall in these, we could hurt ourselves. And even worse, our dance teachers would KILL us."  
"And they say I'M a worrywart. Well, I'm wearing these. You can wear flats." Paige says indignantly.

* * *

Half an hour later the girls are walking down the path leading to the beach, Chloe wearing the black dress she bought with smoky makeup and flats. The dress was long sleeved and high cut, but skin tight and short, so the look was classy but gorgeous. Paige's dress is a strapless one, hot pink and edgy, with neutral make up and stilettos.

They get to the beach and Paige takes off her shoes and holds them in her hand.  
Brooke turns to them. "Remember, no social media. No putting anything on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Keek or MySpace. Not even Snapchat! Try to avoid other people's cameras too, even on the walkway above the beach. We don't want Miss Abby knowing that Chloe's here and Wendy knowing that Paige went to a party wearing stilettos."  
"Got it." They both reply.  
"Okay, my friends and I are going to go get some drinks now, you guys go make some new friends. And don't stray too far; I need to be able to keep an eye on you."

* * *

Zack threw on some khaki shorts, sandals and a white tank top.  
"Uncle Dan!" He called back into the house. "I'm going to the party now!"  
"Have fun. And behave!" is his Uncle's reply. Zack grins and walks out of the house, making his way down the boardwalk. Because the exchange school is still linked to his college, the college students here had accepted him with open arms. He was always being invited to go places with people and made lots of new friends. Speaking of friends, Zack thinks as he approaches the beach, there was one of them now. Christian Reed stands on the beach pouring drinks for people when he looks up and sees Zack.  
"Zack 2!" he yells. "Want a drink?"  
"Why do you keep calling me 'Zack 2'?" Zack replies, taking the red cup that was offered to him.  
"I told you already!" Christian says. "I already have a really good friend called Zack, back in Australia. But I'll start calling you 'Hawaii Zack' if you want."  
Zack rolls his eyes and laughs good-naturedly, but his laugh is cut short when he sees a light blonde haired girl standing near the bonfire alone. It's the blonde girl from the store earlier and even though she's not facing him, he definitely recognizes her now that she's standing up.  
Zack walks over and taps her on the shoulder. The girl spins around and there's no doubt that it is the one and only, Chloe Lukasiak. He's shocked by how different she looks now in her dress and makeup. She has grown up a lot and he thinks she looks beautiful…

"Chloe!"  
"Zack?"


	2. Chapter 2 - Secret Holiday Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dance Moms or Dance Academy (the people who do probably wouldn't write fan fiction). Certain details from Dance Moms belong to Collins Avenue Productions and Lifetime, Characters and plot line references from Dance Academy belong to Joanna Werner and Samantha Strauss and the rest of the story came from my imagination.**

**Pairing: Chloe and Zack. I'm open to your suggestions, I might put in some other pairings and mix things up a bit.**

**Rating: Teen - for language.**

**Author's Note: I've already written a bit of chapter 3, but please give me more story lines and ideas because I still haven't decided what is going to happen after or later on during the Hawaii trip :)**

**In this story: Chloe is 17, Paige is 18, Zack is 19 and Brooke is 21. And that would also mean: Mackenzie is 12, Maddie and Kendall are 16 and Nia is 17.**

Secret Holiday Part 2

Chloe was standing awkwardly near the fire, with an arm wrapped around her front, the other hand holding a drink that she didn't really like. Paige had started making friends with some random guy, but Chloe was so out of her comfort zone at this party. This wasn't her scene. She was used to reading in her room and small get-togethers with friends.  
Someone taps her shoulder and she turns around.  
"Chloe!" The guy says, surprised.  
"Zack?!" Chloe utters disbelievingly. So she wasn't hallucinating before in the cafe! "I thought I saw you before!"  
"I thought I saw you as well!" Zack exclaims. "It really is a small island!"  
"Oh my gosh, how are you?!" Chloe asks, leaning forward and giving him a hug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"  
"I'm great," Zack replies, returning the hug. "I'm in my first year of College and I'm on student exchange here, doing some dance at the local dance studio."  
"That's awesome! We're only here on holiday."  
"We?" Zack asks.  
"Yeah, Paige and I." Chloe replies, pointing to where Paige is. Paige is now making out with the random guy.  
"Oh wow. I'm surprised that old witch Abby let you out, considering you guys are like her prisoners." Zack retorts.  
Chloe narrows her eyes. She might get frustrated with Miss Abby and dancing once in a while, but that was so uncalled for and nobody outside of ALDC was allowed to talk about her dance instructor that way!  
"You shut your pie-hole, Zackery Torres! You don't know anything about Miss Abby or our dance group!" She yells, mustering all of her courage and stomping away.  
She wasn't used to blowing up at people like that, but she was so frustrated with the gossip that the Candy Apples spread about them. They danced for themselves. They practiced to get better. Not just for Miss Abby.  
"Chloe, wait!" She hears Zack call after her, but she keeps walking down the beach.

Christian looks at Zack after witnessing the ordeal.  
"Was that an ex or something?" Christian asks.  
"No, actually..."  
"We never seem to fully get over them, do we?" Christian says with a faraway look in his eye, not even listening to Zack.  
Zack considers Christian's words. Maybe there are some crushes you never get over. Crushes that had to be pushed aside for competition purposes before...

* * *

The guilt of being away from dance and the studio is still plaguing Chloe, so she finds a quiet spot down the beach and starts dancing. She goes over basics and tries some new steps, anything to keep herself practiced, but it is pretty difficult on the soft sand.  
"Well hello there. How you doin'?" A drunken guy comes up and puts his arm around her. Chloe pushes his arm off. The drunken guy tries again to put his arm around her. She glares at him angry and starts to say "Get your arm off me", when a male voice booms behind them. "You have 3 seconds to leave the girl alone." Chloe turns around and sees that it's Zack who is coming to her rescue. The drunken guy has also seen Zack and his bloodshot eyes are taking in Zack's tall, toned figure and even a drunk guy would not be stupid enough to challenge him to a fight.  
"3..." Zack starts counting. "2..."  
The drunken guy starts running away from Chloe and off the beach in surprisingly good time for somebody who looks like he has consumed a whole liquor store. She directs her eyes back at Zack and notices that he is giving her the once over with concern in his eyes.  
"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"  
"No. Well, maybe my pride a little bit." Chloe's phone beeps.  
Text from Paige: 'U ready 2 go? I'm going to the walkway now.'  
"I have to go. Thanks for, you know...saving me." Chloe says sheepishly.  
"Chloe wait, I'm so sorry about what I said before. You were right; I don't know anything about Abby and your group..." Zack babbles apologetically.  
"Stop. I'M sorry. I overreacted. I'm just on edge right now because you were right too. I'm not supposed to be here, Miss Abby doesn't know. And sometimes I disagree with her...teaching methods, but it's what I put up with for dance."  
"I can understand that," Zack says knowingly. "There's not much I wouldn't do for dance."  
They smile at each other for a moment, happy to bond through their mutual love of dance.  
The moment is pierced by a shrill cry coming from the walkway.  
They look up and see a crowd forming around something pink.  
They look at each other and run over to see what is happening.  
Chloe and Zack push through the crowd to see Paige on the floor crying, her ankle twisted at an angle that it should not be. Zack disappears and Chloe rushes forward, putting her arms around her best friend, her long blonde hair shielding Paige's face from the crowd. It is clear that Paige's ankle is broken.  
"You were right." Paige sobs. "I shouldn't have worn these stilettos. Wendy and mom are going to be so mad."  
"Shhh, don't worry about that now. You're going to be fine." Chloe soothes her, as if trying to convince herself of that as well.  
A guy beside them speaks up. "She was just standing here, waiting for you, and this drunk dude came running out of nowhere and knocked her over." Chloe recognises the guy speaking as the boy Paige had been kissing earlier.  
"Crap. Where's Brooke?" Chloe asks.  
"She mentioned going to a famous bar." Paige whimpers, clearly in pain.

A Police car pulls up on the boardwalk next to the crowd and one police officer and Zack get out.  
"Move back, people! Give the girl some space!" The policeman yells and everyone except Chloe moves back.

"I went to get help." Zack says as he reaches them. He and the police officer very carefully pick Paige up and put her in the back of the car, trying not to move her leg.

There's only room for one person to go in the front of the car, so Zack looks at Chloe and says "You ride in the front with her, I'll meet you at the hospital."  
"Thanks," Chloe says worriedly. "And could you please bring Brooke to the hospital? She's at a 'famous bar' apparently?"  
"I think I know which one. See you soon!"  
Chloe gets in the front seat of the Police car with Paige lying in the back and they drive off to the hospital.

* * *

Zack steps into the bar, which is a college student hotspot and is famous for their cocktails. He scans the bar and doesn't seem to find Brooke until he spots her at the very back table with some friends. He has to look a few times because he hasn't seen her in person in a long time.  
"Brooke!" He calls to her, walking over.  
She squints at him unfamiliarly for a few seconds until it dawns on her. "Zack! Oh wow, great to see you!"  
"Paige has hurt her ankle!"  
"Okay, not so great to see you."  
"I'm driving you to the hospital, let's go."  
"Okay, okay." She says, gathering her stuff quickly and saying goodbye to her friends. "Mum is going to kill me if her injury is serious."

"Maybe, if Abby doesn't kill you first."

"About that…I'll explain in the car." Brooke replies.

* * *

Chloe was in the waiting room, freaking out. She was using the hospital hand railing as a barre and was going over ballet barre exercises at a rapid speed, which she only did when she got really nervous. Her smoky eye makeup had smeared on the way and turned into raccoon makeup.  
The emergency room doors burst open and Chloe looks up to see Zack and Brooke rushing over to her.  
"Where's Paige?!" Brooke asks breathlessly.  
"In with a doctor, they wouldn't let me past the waiting room because I'm not family. I said I was her sister but they asked for ID." Chloe says tearfully.  
"It's okay; I'll go see her now." Brooke says, patting Chloe's arm and going over to the desk to show her ID.  
Once Brooke passes the waiting room doors, Chloe goes back to frantically practicing at the substitute barre. Her eyes water and her body shakes and she struggles to keep standing, but she can't help it.  
"Whoa, whoa. You need to calm down." Zack says and Chloe's lips just tremble harder in response.  
He notices this and sighs, taking her into his arms and giving her a big bear hug. Chloe bursts into tears at this.  
"What if this is serious? What if she can never dance again?...I shouldn't have let her wear those stupid shoes!" Chloe sobs into Zack's chest, taking heaving breaths in between words. "And the guy that knocked her over, I'm pretty sure it was that stupid drunk guy that hit on me on the beach!"  
"Damn it." Zack murmurs guiltily. It was him that scared that guy into running so fast...

* * *

It's been hours and they are still at the hospital. The clock reads 1AM. Chloe is a lot calmer now and is sitting in a waiting room chair. She had already removed all of her makeup in the bathroom and is now wearing a pink jacket she kept in her bag, in case she got cold. Zack had left ten minutes ago, saying that he was going to the bathroom and Chloe is surprised at the emptiness she feels without him there. When she is worried, he seems to have a comforting presence. To be fair, she reasons, she is probably just too tired to keep stressing out and she would probably be grateful for comfort from anyone at this point. Brooke had texted her saying that she could go back to the hotel 5 hours ago, but she is too anxious to leave and Zack insisted on staying too.

Chloe picks up her phone and decides to text Christi to let her know what was going on, in case Kelly hadn't already told her. Chloe had called Kelly when they wouldn't let Chloe in with Paige, but Kelly hadn't answered so she had left a voicemail. Chloe is pretty sure that Brooke would have called her anyway.  
Chloe considers letting Josh know as well, but decides that Kelly would tell him the minute she found out.

A cup of coffee appears before her and she looks up to see Zack offering it to her, with his own cup perched in his hand.  
"This will keep you running for a bit longer, but you should probably sleep soon."  
"Thanks," she says, accepting the cup. "But I don't think I could sleep right now."  
"You should try. Do you mind if I..." Zack mumbles off, leaning his head on Chloe's shoulder. He's snoring before he can finish his sentence. She rests her head on top of his and not long after, she feels her eyelids getting heavy.

* * *

Chloe wakes up to someone standing over them. Zack's head is still heavy on her shoulder.  
"Awwww." A voice coos.  
She blinks and sees Brooke standing over them, squeezing a pillow. "That's so cute!" She squeals and Chloe grabs the pillow embarrassedly and gently moves Zack's head onto the pillow and onto the armrest instead of her shoulder. She looks up at the clock. 6AM. Had they really slept for 5 hours?! The two girls walk a few metres away so they can talk.  
"How's Paige?"  
"It was a pretty clean break, Thank God. She can go back to the hotel tonight. They put a cast on her foot and she can get it removed in 6 weeks and can probably dance a week or two after that."  
"Phew, I'm just glad that Paige will be fine and still able to dance after this, she'd be so devastated if she couldn't."  
"Yeah, she's pretty lucky. Unfortunately, I spoke to mom and she thinks that it would be best that Paige stays here until Paige is fully healed."  
"That makes sense, so will I fly back by myself at the end of these two weeks?" Chloe asks.  
"I'm not really sure. Your parents and my parents can't get time off work, but my mom said something about sending backup. She wasn't specific about whom, but it'll probably be Aunt Kate, who lives in California, which is about two thousand and four hundred miles from here. So either Kate will stay here with Paige and we fly back together, or I stay here with Paige and Kate will fly back with you." Brooke says confusedly, trying to figure out her mom's plans with so little details to go on. "Aunt Kate did mention wanting to visit mom a few weeks ago anyway."  
"That's fine, I'm sure we'll figure it out." Chloe smiles reassuringly.  
"Anyway, you and Zack really should go and get some sleep, preferably not together though. Your mom would kill me if I allowed that to happen. Paige and I will be back at the hotel in a few hours."  
Chloe's cheeks burn with embarrassment at Brooke's comment about sleeping, but she's hungry and too tired to protest so she just nods.  
"Do you want to go in and see her for a few minutes? She's in room 12B. I can sit here and watch Zack." Brooke offers, pointing at the sleeping boy.  
Chloe nods again and smiles. "Thanks Brooke," she says and goes to see the patient.

* * *

Paige's thin frame looks so small in the big hospital bed. Her leg is in a cast, elevated on a few pillows. She is playing some intense looking game on her phone when Chloe walks in.  
"Paigey! I'm so glad you're okay." Chloe exclaims, rushing forward and giving her friend a hug.  
"I'm fine, Chlo. Mum insists on sending us a chaperone though. And she's so ticked off that Brooke wasn't watching us properly, though she admits that this accident was not preventable."  
Chloe gives a sympathetic chuckle and sits on the edge of the bed.  
"Anyway," Paige rambles on. "I'm not sure if it was hallucinations from the pain or the morphine button that police guy gave me on the way to the hospital distorting my memory, but I swear Zackery Torres helped carrying me into that police car."  
"It wasn't a hallucination. Zack's here on exchange."  
"Oh, wow. Well this will be interesting." Paige says, eyebrows rising.  
"What will be interesting? We're not competitors anymore. And it's not like we weren't all friends before."  
"A few years ago, I liked Zack as more than friends for about a few hours, but then I realised he liked you."  
"What? No he didn't."  
"There was something intense about the way he watched you dance, as if his eyes were memorising your every move."  
"That's because he was afraid that I was going to beat him."  
"Oh, Chloe. Sweet, innocent, naive Chloe. He wanted you so bad. But he was dancing with Cathy and you were dancing with Abby, it wouldn't make any sense. But now, he's not with Cathy anymore..." Paige hints cheekily.  
"Don't get any ideas, Paige."  
"I'm still slightly high on Morphine, I can't help it."

Paige and Chloe talk for a bit longer, before Chloe decides to head back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Chloe gets back to the waiting room to find that Zack is already awake and talking to Brooke. They're both laughing. Chloe doesn't know why but she feels jealous about the fact that Brooke has been closer to Zack in the past, with them ice skating together that one time before the New York competition. The competition that had her tie with Zack, only to have him beat her due to technique. She pushes the feeling down and dismisses the sharp pain in her chest as a cramp from sitting in hospital chairs for too long and goes over to them.  
"Was Paige a bit strange with you?" Brooke asks.  
"Yes," Chloe giggles. "She mentioned still having a little bit of morphine in her system."  
"A 'little' bit? She wouldn't let go of the green button!" Brooke exclaims as she gets up and stretches, before she leaves Chloe and Zack together in the waiting room.  
"So..." Chloe says.  
"Sooo..." Zack repeats, emphasising the 'o' sound. "It's almost 7AM."  
"Yep."  
"...Wanna get breakfast?"  
"Sure." Chloe agrees and they walk out of the waiting room together.

* * *

"I drove my uncle's car here." Zack says, as they enter the parking lot.  
Suddenly a loud female voice rings out through the car park.  
"Chloe! Chloe!" the voice calls.  
Chloe turns around to see a lady around her mom's age waving and coming towards them. She is pushing a little girl in a wheel chair. The little girl is thin and pale and is wearing a bandana.  
"Hi! Sorry to disturb you. My daughter, Megan, is a huge fan!" The lady babbles. "She watches you on Dance Moms every Tuesday, even when she's having chemotherapy. Your dancing and the rest of your team's dancing really inspires her."  
"Thank you, that means so much to me." Chloe says, tearing up. "Can I have a hug?" She asks the little girl. Megan nods shyly and reaches her arms up as Chloe reaches down and gives her a heartfelt cuddle.  
"Sorry to trouble you more, but can we get a photo?" Megan's mom asks hesitantly.  
"Of course!" Chloe exclaims. "It's no trouble at all, we're on holidays."  
Chloe poses with Megan and they let her mom take a few photos until Zack says "Let me take a picture of all of you" and they take a few more with Megan's mom. Chloe tells them to wait a second and she takes off her pink jacket. Luckily, she had swiped a free pen from the hospital and pulls it out of the pocket and writes:  
"Dear Megan,  
You say I inspire you, but YOU are my inspiration.  
Call me whenever you want to talk.  
Love, Chloe. xoxo"  
She then writes her phone number on the materials label, so that it can be cut off later.  
Megan's face lights up when Chloe hands her the jacket and Megan's mother's eyes mist over.  
"I can't thank you enough for giving her that and your time." She says.  
"It's no problem at all." Chloe says and she watches Megan's mom wheel Megan into the hospital.  
They stand there for a few seconds of silence.  
Zack's voice breaks the silence "Well that was sweet. But how come they didn't recognise me?!"  
Chloe grins. "Well it has been a while and you've changed a lot since you were on the show, I don't think anyone who doesn't know you well would recognise you."  
"So you know me well, huh?"  
"Pretty well." She says and they both smile and get in his car.

They spend the next hour having breakfast together at the closest Cafe they find. Zack has Bacon and Eggs and Chloe has waffles. He then drops her off at her hotel and goes home feeling strangely happy for some reason.


End file.
